Charlotte Lagro takes found objects and relieves them of their intended purpose and function to accommodate new possibilities for exchange and desire. She strips them bare, plays with them and transforms them, and makes videos about them, often inviting others to join in the process. With sleight of hand, Lagro can make heavy objects appear almost weightless. The work “The Beginning and Ending is Always Ambiguous” centers around an umbilical cable used to supply oxygen, as well as light and communication signals, to deep sea divers. From a hundred meters below, divers climb the umbilical, hand over hand, to make their way back to the surface. In water, its air-filled tubes have just the right amount of added mass to gently sink. This artificial lifeline materializes the vulnerability of human existence. And the search for the familiar in the unfamiliar with handcrafted extensions. An optimistic relic of the human endeavor to the leave the bubble

photos : Charlotte Lagro

Lors de cette édition spéciale de printemps d’Art Rotterdam, dix-sept œuvres et installations monumentales seront exposées à l’extérieur de la Van Nellefabriek. Parmi celles-ci, The Beginning and Ending is Always Ambiguous, oeuvre de Charlotte Lagro.

NL.

Charlotte Lagro werkt met gevonden objecten en bevrijdt deze van hun beoogde functie om ruimte te maken voor nieuwe mogelijkheden voor uitwisseling en verlangen. Ze stript de voorwerpen, speelt ermee en transformeert ze, maakt er video’s over, en nodigt vaak anderen uit deel te nemen aan dit proces. Met lichte toets laat Lagro zware objecten bijna gewichtloos aandoen. Het werk “The Beginning and Ending is Always Ambiguous” focust op de umbilical (navelstreng), een kabel die wordt gebruikt om diepzeeduikers van zuurstof, licht- en communicatiesignalen te voorzien. Vanaf honderd meter diep klimmen duikers aan deze kabel, hand voor hand, terug omhoog naar de oppervlakte. In het water bevatten de met lucht gevulde slangen precies genoeg ballast om rustig weg te zinken. Deze artificiële levenslijn materialiseert de kwetsbaarheid van het menselijk bestaan. En de zoektocht naar het vertrouwde in het onvertrouwde met geknutselde extensies. Een optimistisch reliek van het menselijk streven om de luchtbel te verlaten.

FR.

Charlotte Lagro travaille avec des objets trouvés, les libérant de leur fonction pour laisser place à de nouvelles possibilités d’échange et de désir. Elle dépouille les objets, joue avec eux et les transforme, réalise des vidéos à leur sujet et invite souvent d’autres personnes à participer à ce processus. Avec une touche de légèreté, Lagro fait paraître des objets pesants presque en apesanteur. L’œuvre « The Beginning and Ending is Always Ambiguous » (Le début et la fin sont toujours ambigus) se concentre sur le cordon ombilical, un câble utilisé pour fournir de l’oxygène, de la lumière et des signaux de communication aux plongeurs en eaux profondes. De cent mètres de profondeur, les plongeurs remontent à la surface sur ce câble, une main après l’autre. Dans l’eau, les tuyaux remplis d’air contiennent juste assez de lest pour leur permettre de couler sans problème. Cette ligne de vie artificielle matérialise la vulnérabilité de l’existence humaine. Et la recherche du familier dans le non familier avec des extensions bricolées. Une relique optimiste de l’effort humain pour quitter la bulle.

EN.

Charlotte Lagro takes found objects and relieves them of their intended purpose and function to accommodate new possibilities for exchange and desire. She strips them bare, plays with them and transforms them, and makes videos about them, often inviting others to join in the process. With sleight of hand, Lagro can make heavy objects appear almost weightless. The work “The Beginning and Ending is Always Ambiguous” centers around an umbilical cable used to supply oxygen, as well as light and communication signals, to deep sea divers. From a hundred meters below, divers climb the umbilical, hand over hand, to make their way back to the surface. In water, its air-filled tubes have just the right amount of added mass to gently sink. This artificial lifeline materializes the vulnerability of human existence. And the search for the familiar in the unfamiliar with handcrafted extensions. An optimistic relic of the human endeavor to the leave the bubble

The Beginning and Ending is Always Ambiguous centers around an umbilical cable used to supply oxygen, as well as light and communication signals, to deep sea divers. From a hundred meters below, divers climb the umbilical, hand over hand, to make their way back to the surface. In water, its air-filled tubes have just the right amount of added mass to gently sink. Out of water, the cable is less at ease. It twists and twirls in all directions. To hold one is to wrestle with it. The 115-meter-long cable is comprised of bright blue, red, orange, and yellow tubes, like veins entwined. (It is a snake of mythical proportions.) This hallowed lifeline makes visceral the fragility of our bodies and the precarity of wedding them to machines. If something goes wrong, it goes terribly wrong.

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The Beginning and Ending is Always Ambiguous centers around an umbilical cable used to supply oxygen, as well as light and communication signals, to deep sea divers. From a hundred meters below, divers climb the umbilical, hand over hand, to make their way back to the surface. In water, its air-filled tubes have just the right amount of added mass to gently sink. Out of water, the cable is less at ease. It twists and twirls in all directions. To hold one is to wrestle with it. The 115-meter-long cable is comprised of bright blue, red, orange, and yellow tubes, like veins entwined. (It is a snake of mythical proportions.) This hallowed lifeline makes visceral the fragility of our bodies and the precarity of wedding them to machines. If something goes wrong, it goes terribly wrong.